Approaching the Altars of the Gods: Comparative Polytheism
Jan 23, 2015 21:58:46 GMT -6
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Post by TheModernSouthernPolytheist on Jan 23, 2015 21:58:46 GMT -6
The study of comparative religion tends to be a rather academic one, generally. Sociologists, historians, ethnographers, and other academics spend their time pouring over ancient texts, conducting interviews, taking polls, and analyzing statistics. But that can all be a bit tedious for the average person. So, why study comparative religion at all, you ask? Because we can learn so much about our own religious (or even magical) path by examining those of others.
When we examine the practices of others, we gain insight to how different cultures handle similar issues. Interested in animism? Look into how Shinto handles that and compare it to the way another modern tradition handles it. Then compare that to your own. By understanding what makes different people tick, we learn about ourselves.
From a hard polytheist perspective, however, it’s important to keep in mind that just because Shinto, Gaelic Polytheism, and Norse Polytheism are all animists, it doesn’t mean that they all have the exact same beliefs. Remember, it’s comparative religion, not Xerox religion.
You also want to keep in mind both time period and proximity between what’s being compared. It’s perfectly fine to compare Ancient Canaanite religion and Ibero-Celtic religion, but know that not only are these cultures incredibly different, they aren’t in the same region, are dealing with different environments, different neighboring cultures, different time periods, and different available technology. While it can be fun and interesting, just keep these things in mind.
It can also be beneficial to compare and contrast similarly related cultures. For instance, a lot of things are missing from the various Celtic cultures. So it can be helpful to gather ideas of how some of the Gauls approached an issue and how some of the Brythonic peoples approached an issue and compare those to see how the Gaels may have approached it. Obviously this requires some level of discernment and educated guessing, but it can really be a great way to draw inferences where the historical records are missing.
All in all, the study of comparative religions is the study of people. Not all people in a given culture are going to approach something the same way. They didn’t in the past and they don’t today. To quote on of my favorite 90s songs, studying religions throughout time “is a way of fishing the past from the disposal, wiping it off…and recycling it for more than it's worth.”
When we examine the practices of others, we gain insight to how different cultures handle similar issues. Interested in animism? Look into how Shinto handles that and compare it to the way another modern tradition handles it. Then compare that to your own. By understanding what makes different people tick, we learn about ourselves.
From a hard polytheist perspective, however, it’s important to keep in mind that just because Shinto, Gaelic Polytheism, and Norse Polytheism are all animists, it doesn’t mean that they all have the exact same beliefs. Remember, it’s comparative religion, not Xerox religion.
You also want to keep in mind both time period and proximity between what’s being compared. It’s perfectly fine to compare Ancient Canaanite religion and Ibero-Celtic religion, but know that not only are these cultures incredibly different, they aren’t in the same region, are dealing with different environments, different neighboring cultures, different time periods, and different available technology. While it can be fun and interesting, just keep these things in mind.
It can also be beneficial to compare and contrast similarly related cultures. For instance, a lot of things are missing from the various Celtic cultures. So it can be helpful to gather ideas of how some of the Gauls approached an issue and how some of the Brythonic peoples approached an issue and compare those to see how the Gaels may have approached it. Obviously this requires some level of discernment and educated guessing, but it can really be a great way to draw inferences where the historical records are missing.
All in all, the study of comparative religions is the study of people. Not all people in a given culture are going to approach something the same way. They didn’t in the past and they don’t today. To quote on of my favorite 90s songs, studying religions throughout time “is a way of fishing the past from the disposal, wiping it off…and recycling it for more than it's worth.”